Lucas Till On Becoming MacGyver

Mac is back! MacGyver returns for its second season on CBS tonight at 8 PM ET. Lucas Till reprises his role as Angus “Mac” MacGyver in the series known for creative problem solving and edge of your seat action!

CBS Local’s Matt Weiss caught up with Till ahead of the show’s sophomore season to discuss how he became MacGyver, his preparation and his favorite MacGyver moment from the show thus far!

MW- Hey Lucas, how’s it going?

LT- Hey Matt, how are you doing?

MW- Doing great! So new season of MacGyver comes out September 29th and this is the second season on CBS with you playing the title role. Taking you back a bit, what was it about this project that made you excited to sign on before season one?

LT- Well, I had no job and wanted to change that. I was looking around at a few things and I had never really thought about network television before. First thing was they were shooting in Portland, Oregon and I really wanted to live in Portland for an extended period of time or at least shoot a pilot up there. It turned out that they picked up the show and they never shot in Portland [laughs]. At that point it was too late and I’ve got no regrets because it’s been the best job of my life.

MW- Now the character MacGyver has been around for awhile of course, what’s it like playing a character that is not brand new, where there have been takes on the character already? Did you watch the previous series to prepare at all?

LT- I did, I think it’s important. At the time I definitely didn’t have as much experience as I do now with people coming up to me telling me how much he meant to them, the original MacGyver. I’m happy I watched, I think I got two seasons in before we started and I just kind of wanted to boil down what made him him, that I could accomplish.

The hand full of feelings that he’s humble, he’s nice – he’s an all around nice guy. He solves things without having to use guns and hopefully not violence. Although every now and then we have to use violence just because that’s what people bring and he’s got no choice but it’s sort of a last resort. So yea, I definitely did watch the original to get some inspiration.

MW- MacGyver is known for his creativity, being able to use the most innocent seeming prop to get out of a sticky situation. In your time as MacGyver, what’s been your favorite premise so far for escaping danger?

LT- It’s so funny, every time someone asks me this I have an abundance. Even after only one season I probably have 100 of them. I used Jack’s heart to keep a heart alive. It’s like a heart in a box pump that keeps hearts alive instead of transporting live organs on ice and it all ends up not being able to work and I use jack’s heart to keep the heart pumping alive so we can get it into someone else.

MW- Wow, that sounds insane! Looking ahead now, what can fans expect in season two?

LT- George and I, I feel like everyday we look at each other and go, ‘I think we’re getting better at this, I think we can make this work!’ It was kind of an impossible thing that first year. I was questioning whether or not I wanted to be actor after that first year [laughs]. It was so much trying to figure it out but once you start figuring it out it’s a lot of work, but in a fun way. We also feel like we’re accomplishing something. Everyone says they can see it in the work, how much fun we’re having while working. That’s what people have to look forward to, just more entertaining episodes. The action’s crazier and the MacGyver moments…the stakes are higher.

MW- It’s a fun watch for sure, and it’s always nice to hear when it’s fun making the show as well. One last question before I let you go and this might be a tough one, I’m going to put you on the spot a bit. Can you describe the new season in three words?

LT- That is hard to do without being trite. I’ll say – sexy, funny, awesome! [laughs]